Meet Mr. Pharisee

You Might be a Pharisee if… 

I’m sure you remember the iconic phrase made famous by Jeff Foxworthy some years back “You might be a redneck if…

• You ever cut your grass and found a car.
• You've ever used a weed eater indoors.
• You come home from the garbage dump with more than you went with.
• You fish in your above-ground pool, especially if you catch something!

These were just some to name a few. Recently, that phrase came to my mind while I was sitting in a revival waiting to speak. However, the word “redneck” was exchanged for “Pharisee.” Within in minutes I was writing on a sheet of paper the following statements.

You might be a Pharisee if…

• Love your religion more than Christ.
• You don’t practice what you preach
• You judge everyone by outward appearance
• You elevate man-made traditions to equality with God’s Word

However, this religious sect who were comprised by the most self-righteous religious leaders of the day were

• Religious but lost.
• They were good at converting people to religion but not to Christ.
• Good at making monuments and museums of the past but not life in the present.
• They couldn’t recognize Christ or an ordained move of God.

Pharisees were long on talk and short on practice. Jesus said: "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not after their works: for they say, and do not" (Matt. 23:3).

Pharisees majored on minors. Jesus said that they "left undone the weightier matters" and "strained out the gnat, and swallowed the camel" (Matt. 23:23-25). Brings new life to the old saying “making mountains out of mole hills.”

I could go on and on about the Pharisee but the bottom line is that they were the epitome of hypocrisy. If they simply would have been sincere worshipers of the true and living God then all the infectious spiritual disease they were propagating would have been averted. However, their pride crushed any opportunity for humility to gain a foothold and they continued injecting their poison of man-made religion into the masses. People were turned off by their pompous rituals without life, and their attitude of arrogance sickened and repulsed those who otherwise may have come to the true God of Israel.

I began thinking of today, and wonder why more people are not wanting or receiving this wonderful free gift of salvation. It doesn’t take long to realize that the spirit (attitude – disposition) of the Pharisee is alive and well today. 

Is it possible these attitudes and characteristics that are listed above are still resident among God’s people? How many times do we judge the outward appearance and it hinders our response to that individual? How often has sinners said about the church “they talk one thing but they don’t live it.” 

I am thoroughly convinced that we hold the keys to opening the love of God to the masses of unsaved people in our communities. When we speak the Word in Love – what does that actually mean? 

It means we

• speak the truth without compromise
• realize our human weaknesses and it translates into such compassion towards them
• see them as more precious and valuable than anything else in the world
• guard our own life and practice what we preach

If we DO these things, the faucet of Phariseeism will be turned off and the true love of God will flow like a river. It will sweep the sinners into its flow of love and a true lasting revival will ensue. 

-      Dr. Reuben Egolf 

 Experience Life Today  

Trust Emerging from the Ashes of Being Broken - There is Hope

How do you rebuild trust after it has been broken? 

An age old question that has left many destroyed in its wake. The usual end result is frustration and coming to the conclusion it is an impossible feat to reconstruct relationships, after they have been decimated by the hurricane of broken trust. 

However, there is hope and it is not an impossibility. Here are a few pointers to help the reconciliation process and rebuild the relationship to be even stronger than before.

• In order to restore trust you have to stop arguing about the details of the past and start talking about the design/blueprint for the future.

Arguing about what happened yesterday and focusing on who is at fault becomes an endless and futile venture. It yields nothing positive for the future. Concentrating on the past removes all ability to build a future.

• You will never rebuild trust on the ashes of the past.
• You have to replace your view of the past with a vision for the future and realize it’s going to take time to rebuild that trust!

Speak more about where you are going instead of where you have been. In other words, fix NOW so you have a FUTURE.

• Don’t make a monument to your failures and give your past permission to ruin your future.

Stop making it as reference points in the life whether in your own life or the other person’s. Throw away the black book! A fatal mistake is revisiting the monuments of the past as if they occurred yesterday when in reality it could have been 20 years ago. Let it go and never go back!

• Don’t allow the Devil to trap you in a world of misery that you cannot change.

Satan’s favorite place to visit is a person’s past. If he can lead you there and get you to build a house and dwell there – it will be a world of total misery. Nothing changes in that world. The best policy is to leave it and close the door and throw away the key!

• Go through the Cross and forget the past’s existence, because the future is waiting.

One of the most powerful phrases a person can utter is "I'm sorry." Contained in those heartfelt words is someone expressing personal responsibility, remorse, and a desire to correct. If backed up with corresponding actions, you will witness and experience the transition from a mess produced by self, to becoming a message produced by grace. 

Remember, Jesus gave us all a second chance and probably a lot more if we were honest. Why not invest the effort today to restore that broken relationship and rebuild something that will testify of God's greatness. I promise it will be worth it! 

 Nehemiah 9:17
¹⁷  And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

Let’s follow his example.

- Dr. Reuben Egolf